Editor's Note: Another new writer -- Amy Anaruk -- also starts out with Celsias today. Amy writes out of Florida, and will be covering topics ranging from health to politics and more. Welcome Amy!

Local government in economically depressed Youngstown, Ohio has an innovative solution for urban renewal -- it’s taking the urban out altogether and replacing it with green. After several failed attempts to bring more industry into this former steel town, Youngstown officials are headed in the opposite direction with Plan 2010, part of an international trend to approach shrinking cities with an eye towards their cultural and urban planning opportunities. Efforts like these may just change the way this country thinks about revitalization.

The short version? Plan 2010 aims to pay moving grants up to fifty grand to the few homeowners left on otherwise abandoned city blocks, tear down old buildings and abandoned houses, and turn many of these urban areas into green spaces. In an effort to revamp Youngstown's industrial past, the plan also calls for concentration on healthcare, the university, and the arts.

Youngstown is part of the U.S. Rust Belt, the northeastern portion of the country whose economies used to rely on heavy industry and manufacturing. With those jobs mostly gone, Rust Belt cities must now revitalize or risk dying off. Places like Pittsburgh are thriving cultural centers, but Youngstown is in decline.

Formerly the third largest steel producer in America, the city saw its population shrink by half after the mills shut down in the last several decades. The population decline means the city lacks enough residents to fill its infrastructure, leaving factories and buildings to fall into decay. The U.S. real estate bubble burst hasn’t helped, either, upping the foreclosures in a city already plagued by them.

Descriptions of the city sound downright dystopian:

But growth never came, and that makes for some strange city streetscapes today. There are few occupied homes and unkempt woodlands have taken over. There's at least one 10-acre farm and many other large fields.

Some dead-end streets are already uninhabitated and torn up, their outlets blocked with concrete barriers. Many roads are pitted and potholed; drivers have to slalom slowly through or face axle-busting jolts. Lonely water hydrants look woefully out of place sitting on the sides of rural-looking roads. -- CNN Money

Yet the boldness of Plan 2010 has infused its citizens with energy and excitement for their city. In a country whose president spent most of his presidency ignoring the climate change problem, reading Youngstown 2010’s hopeful call for beautification and social change is like fresh air itself. (And I don’t even live in Ohio.)

Youngstown must become a healthier and better place to live and work. Over time people have become accustomed to seeing rundown buildings and streets. Urban decay is a constant and demoralizing reminder of Youngstown’s decline. It is important that Youngstown begin to “fix its broken windows” and support initiatives to improve neighborhoods, the downtown, the river, and the education system. The city most also begin dealing with difficult issues such as public safety and racism. -- Youngstown 2010 Vision Principles

The Shrinking Cities Institute envisions similar renovations for the region:

It may well be time to envision a future for some Ohio cities that is smaller and smarter, rather than bigger and better. -- Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative

Like attracts like, and that belief is at least partially fueling the Youngstown renovation platform. If Plan 2010 turns this blighted post-industrial city into something smarter, more sustainable, and better planned, then businesses with similar principles may follow.

The question is, can staying small spell progress for shrinking cities like Youngstown? It's hard to argue with trading broken asphalt for parks and gardens, and it's even more seductive to consider the huge implications of success for everything from land conservation to urban renewal to the greening of U.S. cities.